Jobs Growth Strong Despite Seasonal Losses

Preliminary numbers released by the NYS Department of Labor indicate continued growth in the upstate NY job market, with 120,400 private sector jobs added since this time last year.

The news should offset concerns of rising seasonal unemployment, fueled in part by seasonally-adjusted figures showing a loss of 12k jobs between July and August. The bigger picture remains rosy, with sustained job growth in 58 of the last 68 months and favorable unemployment rates measured against the national average.

Outside of NYC, unemployment rates held steady at 4.4% over July and August, improving on both the national average and last year’s figures by 0.5%.

Net Growth by Region

Four upstate metro areas were among the most rapidly growing in the state, this year: Kingston (+3.4%), Dutchess-Putnam (+2.5%), Watertown-Fort Drum (+2.5%), and Ithaca (+2.2%).

Strong Growth in Education and Healthcare Jobs

Of the nine industrial sectors tracked by the state Department of Labor, healthcare and education saw by far the most dramatic growth in August. The lion’s share of these gains were in healthcare and social assitance (41.7k jobs), of which 24.7k were jobs in ambulatory health care.